Wrist Pin Cushion

One of my closest friend's birthdays was coming up and I wanted to make her something. I had been over at her house working on some crafts and noticed all of the loose pins in her craft stuff. She told me that she didn't have a pin cushion. As I was thinking of what to make her I remembered that conversation and knew I had to make her one. I wanted it to be super useful so I did a Google image search for wrist pin cushions and came up with this:

My final product looks nothing like this but it as least gave me a jump off point. My friend loves the color purple so I decided to make a two tone purple daisy. I started by drawing my pattern. I needed a five petal base, accent petals and a center. I tried to keep it simple as I was going to be completely hand sewing this. I didn't want to use hot glue because I thought the pins would have a hard time going through that.

I cut two pieces of the five petal flower, five of the accent petal and one of the center. Since my flowers weren't perfect, I put a pin the the top of each one so I knew which sides aligned. And yes, I was working in the car. We were actual driving through the after-math of Super Storm Sandy and all of the snow that it had dumped on WV and MD.

Next, I started sewing everything down. I had some green thread so I thought that would be a nice contrast. I sewed my petals down one by one with a running stitch and then the center.

Then I sewed my two flower pieces together with a decorative stitch and stuffed them and tied off my thread and tucked in the ends. I had to wait until we weren't driving for the last part. At first I was going to make the wrist strap out of two hair rubber bands but I realized the ones I had were a little tight so I decided to use an elastic headband instead. I glued it down so that the metal clasp would not be showing when I covered it with felt.

I cut a small rectangle of matching purple felt and glued it over where the two parts of the headband met.

The pin cushion was done! Just slip it on your wrist and you are ready to sew!

When I was searching for ideas I came across a lot of interesting designs like an octopus or a voo-doo doll - yuck! What do you think would make a good pin cushion?

Mercy on the Road

My family really lives a crazy life if you think about it. I know it is only by God's grace that we are taken care of and early this past Monday morning He proved it. We were a little over an hour outside of Indianapolis for a meeting on Sunday and Monday, the hubs was going to fly from there to Managua, Nicaragua for a missions trip. The plan was then for me to then drive about 5 1/2 hours south to be with family while he was gone. Here's the catch. His flight left at 6:30 am and he wanted to be there by 5:15 am and we had to drive an hour and fifteen minutes to get there which meant we had to leave at 4 am. Guess when that meant getting up? 3:30 am at the latest.

I have never been good with anticipation. When I was a kid, I would make myself sice getting excited over field trips or my birthday and then miss them altogether. I have gotten somewhat better as an adult but if I know I have to get up at some crazy early hour, I usually can't sleep at all. Such was the case on Sunday night. I tried everything I could think of but I just could not make my mind shut down. About 3:15 am I asked my husband if he was awake (he wasn't) but we decided to get up anyways. We got the baby in the car and packed up and headed out. I was hoping that adrenalin would get me through but was getting nervous as the rain was coming down pretty hard. I don't do well driving in the rain, in the dark, on the highway. That's like my tri-fecta of awfulness.

We got to the airport and I kissed my husband goodbye and started praying. For two hours I drove through a rough storm, praying the entire time. I switched from radio station to radio station as soon as I lost one, not caring what was on but just needing to listen to something. I wiggled my arms and legs trying to keep the numbness out but I could feel my body giving out, just wanting to slip into slumber. I knew my trip was just beginning though. Around 6 am it was time to stop for gas. I was only going to stop for breakfast if my daughter woke up. She did and there just happened to be a McDonald's right across the street. We went inside and I knew we must have looked interesting to the table of regulars with there morning coffee: a young mother by herself with a toddler in McDonald's at 6 am on a Monday morning. A very sweet young girl working there saw us waiting at the counter for our food and immediately went and got a toy for my daughter and handed it to her. It was very sweet and definitely not something you would expect. We only ate about half of what I ordered but it was enough to get me going again. I called my parents to let them know what was up and get some encouragement. Also, praise the Lord, the sun came up while we were in there. With re-newed confidence we set out once more.

Around 7:30 am I found myself in Louisville, KY rush hour. It was still raining so I was driving very carefully. I tend to like the far left lane as I always go (at least) the speed limit and would rather get out of people's way then try to pass people in the slow lane. I was in the left lane when traffic started to slow a little. A car came up very fast behind me and went around me to the right before I could move out of it's way. It weaved dangerously around someone else and then tried to merge into the next lane only to collide with someone. This caused the car to spin out and come to face me in my lane. On the highway in the rain I was suddenly looking into the headlights of another car! I felt like I was watching the whole thing in slow motion. I hit the breaks and somehow had just enough room to pass the car on the left. There was a very small shoulder but there was some kind of pole that I also had to avoid. When it was all over I really felt that God had guided my car on the exact course it needed to take the avoid the one that was suddenly in my path. It was also a miracle that the car behind me did not hit me either. Once I was around it I just kept going, too rattled to do anything else.

I made it about 45 minutes and 2 or 3 hydroplanes further before the fatigue was just too much. I found the next exit and pulled off. It had a Pilot gas station with a Subway restaurant. I had every intention of parking and crawling into the passenger's seat and sleeping. My daughter was asleep in her car seat so I thought we would be alright. I called my Mom to let her know what I was doing and to ask her to call me in an hour to wake me up. I got my pillow and laid down but then my daughter woke up as she often does when the car shuts off. I was really disheartened then. I considered looking for a hotel which is what my husband had told to do if I needed to, but I was afraid that even if I did find one, it was way before check-in and my daughter most likely would not let me sleep anyways. I looked it up but the closest one was over 15 miles away so I let that idea go. I decided to get my daughter out of her seat and take us both inside. I went and sat down in the Subway and I was really not sure what to do. My body and brain were both exhausted and the steady rain was making it very hard to drive as well. I really didn't think I was going to be able to continue and I was on the verge of tears. I gave my daughter a snack and called my mom. She said that maybe I should see if my grandparent's could come and get me. I really didn't know if that was the best idea as I was still over two hours away. Plus, I didn't think either of them would be too comfortable driving in the rain. I called my Grandma to tell her what was going on and waited to see if she suggested it. She did not, as I thought, but she did pray with me. After that, I was resolved, no matter how many times I had to stop, I was going to keep going. I had to.

I scooped my daughter and all of our stuff up and went to the gas station part of the store, looking for candy. I found the most yucky sounding flavor of Mentos and bought them and headed out to the car once more. It was still difficult, but with much prayer, I finally made it to our destination. The rain never stopped but I never felt like I was falling asleep again either. Honestly, I really felt like the prayers of my family were holding me up. I'd never felt that before. When I got to my grandparent's house all of us just praised God for His goodness. It was a true faith experience for me and I praise God that He got me through it. With Him all things truly are possible!

Felt Flower Pin Test Round-Up

I have loved using felt recently and decided to knock out some of the felt flower tutorials that I was planning to pin-test. For the first one, I only have a picture of my results to show you because the tutorial was awesome and there was nothing I would change about it.

My daughter is wearing a lot more black now that it is Fall and I made two so she could wear them on pigtails once her hair gets longer! I thought these pom-pom flowers were just too cute. You can find the instructions here at Craft Snob.

My next flower was a little more complicated. I found this beautiful tutorial here on "How Joyful" and although I loved it, I could not get the pattern to open for me. Then I also saw how she wants you to buy a limited production license if you are going to sell something you made from her pattern. Something about that just didn't quite rub me the right way. Either sell your pattern or don't limit how people can use it if you put it out there for free. So, I decided to make my own pattern from her idea. I doubt I will ever sell any of these, but this way, if I do, I am covered. First, I drew a petal shape that I liked and then I cut it out and traced around it until I had a good looking flower shape. I tried to make my petal shape a little different than the original. We'll call this one a poinsettia!

To make a second, larger pattern, I retraced around the first one, adding about a 1/4 inch all around as I went and adjusting the middle accordingly.

I normally just pin my pattern to my felt/fabric, but in this case as it was a little more detailed, I traced it onto the felt instead. Be sure to trace onto the non-printed side.

After you have you pieces cut out, on the back side, stitch along the "v" in each petal. It will look like this when you are done:

Once you have your flowers sewn, it's time to glue them together. I like to use a small piece of felt as a base.  Pinch your flower and put your glue around the bottom edge. Then you can arrange it a little more how you like it once you stick it down.

I really liked how these turned out! I know I will be making more!

The final flower is a spin on the second one. I loved the 3-D petals so I decided to try a 5 petal rounded one. My husband is going to Nicaragua next week and I wanted to send a gift to one of the ladies I had met there. I found a nice dress shirt but I couldn't find any jewelry I liked so I made her a flower to match instead. I started as before by drawing a petal shape I liked and then cutting it out and re-tracing it into a full flower. Then I just repeated that on a smaller scale for my second pattern.

Here are all of the pieces used to make this flower. For the small black center flower I cut out five small individual petals and hand stitched them together into a circle.

I have been adding alligator clips and safety pins to the back of many of my flowers recently so that they can pull double duty.

I really like how the rounded shape of the flower picked up the more mod-esque vibe of the print on the shirt. I also picked up some matching nail polish to complete the gift. I hope she likes it!

Felt Frog Pin

I met a lady last night that liked frogs and uses one in her ministry so I thought I would take the opportunity to try making her one. Sometimes I don't need much of an excuse to make something. I started, as always by drawing a simple picture of a frog. I did a Google search for felt frog images to get an idea of what I wanted. Once I had my drawing, I broke it down into pattern pieces. I like to label them before I cut them out so I know which side is up and what goes where. This is really helpful later too if I decide to keep my pattern for future use.

Next, I gathered my materials and actually thought to take a picture of it all together.

Materials:
2 shades of green felt
Yellow felt for stomach and eyes
White felt for mouth (not pictured)
Black felt for backing
Scissors
Stick pins
Needle and matching or contrasting thread
Glue gun
Safety pin or pin back

Obvious first step would be to cut out your pieces. I used a needle and green thread to add details.

Next, begin gluing down your pieces in this order:

1. Eyes and belly to frog body

2. Arms slightly overlapping frog belly

3. Mouth covering top of arms and bottom of eyes

4. Lily pad to black felt

5. Frog to lily pad and black felt

Finally, trim off the excess black felt and glue your pin to the back.

Here's the finished pin, from inspiration to fruition!

Baking Bacon

We are at a missions house for about 5 days this week and went to the store to buy a few groceries last night. We found out that the Dida really likes bacon (right now we are trying to get her to gain weight so we are feeding her things that I might not feed a one year old other wise) and I was wanting to purchase the already cooked kind. I didn't want to spend the money on it though because you can get so much more raw for the same price, but I've never been good at cooking bacon, at least not without burning myself. The hubs, always resourceful, said that he would take on the task. We purchased the best looking cheap stuff that was a thick cut. He wanted to try it in the oven. Turns out to be my favorite method yet!

Here are his instructions:

1. Lay your bacon out on a cookie sheet as flat as you can - you may want to line the pan with foil

2. Set the oven to 350

3. Stick you bacon in to bake, he didn't wait for it to pre-heat

4. After about 20 minutes check for done-ness and bake more as needed

Turned out great and now I have pre-cooked bacon for the rest of our stay!

Update: The best way to reheat bacon cooked this way is to make a little packet out of foil and lay the bacon down in a single layer and pop it back in the oven. No mess and came out better than the first time!

Zebra Softie

Recently I have been playing with felt a lot (another cute softie post will be following this one as soon as it's recipient receives it) and I decided to make stuffed animals for the kids in my life this Christmas. I asked my sister-in-law what my two nieces favorite animals were and she told me kitties, puppies and one of them likes zebras! I had already tried my hand at a very simple cat but was rather intimidated at the idea of making a zebra. I'm not sure what scared me because it turned out not to be very hard at all. A trip to the Wal-mart fabric department made this project a lot easier. I bought a 1/4 yard of zebra print felt for $2 and still have plenty left over for other projects. The also sell zebra print felt sheets but you get more for your money if you buy it this way. To make your own zebra softie you will need:

Zebra felt - how much depends on how big you want to make it
Coordinating felt scraps or yarn for the mane, tail and ears- I used hot pink
Black felt for eyes, nose and feet
Scissors
Needle and coordinating thread
Paper and pencil
Hot glue gun - you can hand sew the whole thing but I prefer to glue some parts down

First, I made a pattern. I just drew a very simple horse shape cut it out. Then I pinned it to my felt and cut out two of them. Make sure to flip the pattern over so that you have zebra print on both sides.

To make the feet I pinned the pattern to the edge of the black felt and the cut it out so I had a little black half circle. I repeated this twice with both feet.

Then I cut out two very small circles for eyes and two very small ovals for nostrils out of the black felt. I also cut out two very small pink triangles for the ears. For the mane and tail I cut out pink rectangles. To make the mane I cut thick slits down one of the long sides, not going all the way through. For the tail I cut thinner slits almost the length of the rectangle. In the future I will use yarn as I think that will be a little stronger. Here are all of the pieces:

And here is how they are, hot glued down:

To attach the mane and tail I flipped one side over and hot glued them down as well. I rolled the tail piece and glued it before gluing it to the zebra.

All that was left was to stitch the two pieces together and stuff it! My daughter fell in love with this one so I decided to let her have it and make my niece a slightly bigger one with yarn for the mane and tail.

It would also be cute with a little pink bow tied around it's neck! What was your favorite stuffed animal as a kid?

Felt Leaf Barette

About.com Scrapbooking - Make your own leaves

Fireflies and Jelly Beans: Fall leaf table runner

I loved the pumpkin outfit that I made my daughter so much yesterday that I decided to keep the Fall ball rolling by making another hair clip out of felt leaves. I did some online searching and came up with the photos above. After looking around a little bit I started making my pattern. First I drew my leaf and acorn shapes and then once I had them how I liked them, I cut them out. The Canadian looking leaf in the top left was the hardest to get just right. I took me 3 drawings.

 Next, I pinned my patterns to my felt and started cutting. I cut 2 of everything. Then I added a little embroidery to a few of the leaves to make them pop.

I wanted a cluster of leaves and I started playing around with patterns. At first I thought I wanted something random but then I realized that something a little more symmetrical was the best way to go. Once I had the design I wanted, I placed them on the black felt and cut around them. The black felt was going to be my base. Then I started to hot glue the leaves down. Here is a step by step:

Next I carefully trimmed off all of the excess black fabric. Then, all that was left was to glue on a clip. I decided a barrette would be sturdier in this case. You could also add a pin back so you could wear it on your shirt. I don't like to add pin backs to clips that I intend for my daughter to wear, just in case they were to come open.

Here is my daughter modeling the finished product (it's a little blurry because it is hard to catch her being still!)

I also went outside and got a little artsy with my camera. Here is a shot of all 3 of the Fall bows I have made so far this year.

I designed the sunflower bow to be stacked with the pumpkin bow or worn alone. Simply slide the clip on the back of the pumpkin through the cuff on the front of the bow. Turn your clips in opposite directions so that they don't get too bulky on one side.

See how to make the Pumpkin here